Measuring Up



A small town Doctor was famous in the area for always catching really large fish. Time after time he'd come home with whoppers that weighed more than anyone else in the county was catching.



One day while he was on one of his frequent fishing trips he got a call on his cell phone that a woman at a neighboring farm was giving birth. He jumped into his truck, rushed to her aid and delivered a healthy baby boy.



The farmer had nothing to weigh the baby with so the Doctor went out to the truck, and brought in his fishing scales.



The baby weighed 22 lbs. 10 oz



Hmm..



Seems as if the Doctor was using a flawed set of scales. You know you and I sometimes do the same thing. We look around at people and mentally compare ourselves and them. Maybe we think about heritage - what family they came from, or their racial or ethnic background. Or maybe we measure by degrees - how far they progressed educationally. There again we could just observe how they live. If we see ourselves as kinder, more honest, better people, then I guess we are measuring up.



Friends, that's not the way Jesus wants us to measure up. Here's what He said.



John 13:15 (Msg)

I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do.



Ouch! Jesus said a lot in those few words.



That would mean loving everyone, living a life focused on what would please God, always being in touch with the Father, always doing His will. And since we are not Jesus, asking for the Holy Spirit's power to enable us to follow His pattern.



The great thing is that Jesus not only left us a pattern, He gives us in the person of the Holy Spirit's presence everything we need to follow it.



Just make sure you're using the right standard of measurement for your life.



Grace!



David



This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.